Michigan Today

Elvis at the end

Just before he died at 42, the King rocked Crisler Arena in a slightly strange and thoroughly unforgettable concert.

Michigan state of mind

The Rockettes have flipped the switch at NYC’s iconic Empire State Building, officially lighting up the 2018 holidays. But there would be no switch to flip, if not for a certain U-M alum.
- Arts & Culture
A public health crisis?

Researchers and health care providers are tackling youth firearm injuries from a public health perspective via the federally funded national effort FACTS, for Firearm Safety Among Children and Teens.
- Research News
Here comes the sun

Electricity-generating windows and high-temperature solar power are the aims of two new U-M projects with $1.6 million from the Dept. of Energy’s Solar Energy Technologies Office.
- Innovation
New digital archive preserves Jewish history

U-M recently launched a searchable database containing more than 100 years of digital copies of the Detroit Jewish Chronicle and the Detroit Jewish News.
- Education & Society
The president’s back yard

The grounds of the University president’s house over many decades reflect changes in the nature of campus life at Michigan.
- Campus Life
- Heritage/Tradition
From stage to page

Songwriting sensations Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (both BFA ’06) ‘democratize’ Broadway and turn their musical hit ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ into a poignant novel.
- Arts & Culture

Columns

Editor's Blog
Super exciting

Former Wolverine Tom Brady logs his third consecutive Super Bowl and Michigan Today wraps its 25th podcast. Coincidence?
Talking About Movies
Aesthetics, appeals, and Alfonso

Film scholar Frank Beaver revels in the aesthetics and authenticity of Alfonso Cuarón’s ‘Roma.’
Talking About Books
The road not taken

Nicholas Delbanco asks: How does one ensure the road not taken is the road to creative freedom?
Health Yourself
The environment is hurting, and so are we

There’s something in the air (and the water and the ground), and we need to watch out, says Victor Katch.

Listen to the latest podcast

In the news

You can’t take it with you

After the Ruthven Museums building officially closed its doors to the public last year, Michigan Today explored its deserted halls, cupboards, and cabinets to find a trove of fascinating and forgotten artifacts. A renovated Ruthven will be home to classrooms, labs, and offices for the University’s central administration staff. Ruthven’s former occupants now live in the new Biological Sciences Building.

Notions and potions

The origins of the University’s natural history collections date to 1837 when the state legislature created the University of Michigan. The charter gave the Board of Regents the “authority to spend so much of the University fund to purchase a ‘Cabinet of Natural History.’”

Pictured here is a different kind of cabinet: one that housed some mysterious potions, oil, and rubber gloves in an artichoke jar.
A work in progress

Here’s a sight you don’t often see in the normal course of business hours.
Vanished!

We wish there was a more exciting story to tell about this photo. Alas, no heist to report. Just a move in progress.
Occasional papers

The University’s collections have inspired generations of students, alumni, schoolchildren, families, and other visitors to discover the excitement of science and the natural world. But the “occasional papers” shown here best served scholars behind the scenes.
Lights on, nobody’s home

And for our next exhibit: “Abandoned Office.”
Destination: A2

Long-lost scraps of paper, notes, and other ephemera leave a haunting impression of long-ago adventures, expeditions, and excursions.
It’s another language

We can’t pretend to know what this chart is for, and we can only guess how long it’s been taped to the wall in someone’s laboratory.
It takes all kinds

One University scientist expressed unique anti-war sentiment in a wacky sticker on their office door. Come to think of it, slugs are pretty peaceful creatures. Maybe it’s not so wacky after all.
Gone fishing

Mysteries abound in an empty and deserted museum building. Each drawer holds secrets, discoveries, folios — even “fish serials…”
Turn it up to 11!

Who can tell us what the Volt Meter is used for? There’s just something indescribably cool about those knobs and switches, right?
It’s not easy being green

These tools of the trade have seen better days.
A pop of color

Stacked in the back halls of Ruthven, we found this cluster of colorful chairs. They, too, are relics of a sort!
Hang it up

Someone definitely knew how to leave their past behind … on to new adventures.